Maryland governor orders new highway contract

Gov. Larry Hogan has ordered his transportation secretary to seek a new contract for a multimillion highway expansion because a $68.5 million deal that was supposed to go before a board this week ``lacked the clarity needed to ensure full faith in this process.''

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Gov. Larry Hogan has ordered his transportation secretary to seek a new contract for a multimillion highway expansion because a $68.5 million deal that was supposed to go before a board this week “lacked the clarity needed to ensure full faith in this process.”

The governor said in a letter dated Friday to Pete Rahn that he’s “not satisfied that our threshold for transparency has been met in this case.”

The contract was pulled from the Board of Public Works agenda after The Daily Record reported on questions about ties between Rahn and the winning bidder. Rahn was employed by the consortium leader in the contract, HNTB Corp., before he joined Hogan’s administration.

Rahn told the newspaper Monday that the Maryland State Ethics Commission cleared his involvement two weeks ago.